Opening Weekend... How do you spend it?

Spence

Spence

New member
We always did a family hunt on the opener. But Since then my grandfather has passed, my uncle stays in Illinois and rarely makes a kansas trip anymore so that hasn't happened for probably 15 years.

For the past 6 or 7 years I started going with my father and a group of guys that he used to work with and some of their friends. Always ended up being 20 -25 guys. I never really enjoyed hunting with that many guys, 8-10 dogs running around, it always ended up being a mess. For the most part they would all wrap up their hunt around 11 or 12, then a few of us would hunt the rest of the day, or until our limits were filled.

This year I decided its time to start my own group for opening Weekend, headin a little further west to some land that I acuired last year, it will be a smaller group of guys and should be a good time, I like the idea that for once i'll kinda run the show.

So how do all you guys spend your first weekend in the field??
 
Good thread! My favorite day of the year is Opening Day! I've had a nightmare quite a few times that I slept in and missed the opener, crazy dream because I can barely sleep the night before. My 3 hunting buddies and I head out to Southwest Kansas and hunt my father in-laws land. We usually hunt CRP corners with a few milo fields mixed in. After the hunting is done we head back to the house where my mother in-law prepares a big turkey dinner. They live in the middle of nowhere (just the way I like it) and we usually don't ever see any other hunters. My favorite opener was about 6 or 7 years ago, it was 30 degrees all day, it started snowing about 3 in the afternoon and we got an inch or two of snow. I'm already counting down the days!
 
I've always put together groups of 6-10 hunters and hunt around my dad's place in SW KS. I decided last year that I will not be having more than 6 people in any party that I'm heading up ever again. Last year was probably the best group experience I've had and I still didn't like it. Problem is, I get excited every year and invite too many people for the opener.....NOT THIS YEAR! I'd be willing to hunt in someone else's large group, but I don't want to be the leader of the group. This gives me freedom to leave the group when I get tired of guys complaining, dogs running wild, gun safety problems, or people not being able to keep formation. I can't stand listening to guys bitch b/c they didn't get to shoot a limit, even though they missed their limit during the day:mad:
ONE day, JUST ONCE, I want to hunt in a group of 40 guys just to see what its like and to say I've experienced it.

This year I'm going to focus on getting my son a bird wherever I end up.
 
My opener usually consists of getting up early and beating everyone else out to the WMA's just west of the cities. I make some coffee and load up the dogs and head out all by myself. I know the rest of you usually hunt in groups but I love getting out there and doing my own thing.

Two years ago I made a major mistake and had some buddies over the night before for a few beers and before I knew it we were at the bar. We think we got drugged at the bar because none on us remember much of the night and I woke up the next morning with my apple muffins all over my bed and on my face....I was supposed to eat those for a snack the next day while hunting.... not good. I woke up at 8 realized what had happened and hustled out to try and find any open area I could. I bagged a couple of birds so that helped cure the old hangover.... interesting to say the least.
 
kansasbrittany said:
I've always put together groups of 6-10 hunters and hunt around my dad's place in SW KS. I decided last year that I will not be having more than 6 people in any party that I'm heading up ever again. Last year was probably the best group experience I've had and I still didn't like it. Problem is, I get excited every year and invite too many people for the opener.....NOT THIS YEAR! I'd be willing to hunt in someone else's large group, but I don't want to be the leader of the group. This gives me freedom to leave the group when I get tired of guys complaining, dogs running wild, gun safety problems, or people not being able to keep formation. I can't stand listening to guys bitch b/c they didn't get to shoot a limit, even though they missed their limit during the day:mad:
ONE day, JUST ONCE, I want to hunt in a group of 40 guys just to see what its like and to say I've experienced it.

This year I'm going to focus on getting my son a bird wherever I end up.
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My sentiments exactly. I made the same mistake too - invited too many friends and ended up with nearly 20 hunters for the opening weekend. I did not enjoy the weekend at all - it felt way too much like work. Now I have a limit of 9 hunters, including me, on opening weekend and I stick to it. I let my friends know that I can only accomodate eight hunters for opening weekend and they seem to understand.
 
I agree with this also. I bring back some friends from Minneapolis to SD for opening weekend and hunt on my cousins land for free........ They get to hunt for free, have a place to spend the nights for free, and not once has any of them said, you know what, lets chip in and get something nice for the landowners, something for letting us hunt on their land. This kind of irks me..... It shouldn't be my responsibility to be the one to mention it or even get something for my cousins. Things are going to start changing in this regard. If they want to come hunt, they need to step up and put forth an effort to really be thankful for being able to hunt. What do you guys think? Am I being a jerk about that?





landman said:
My sentiments exactly. I made the same mistake too - invited too many friends and ended up with nearly 20 hunters for the opening weekend. I did not enjoy the weekend at all - it felt way too much like work. Now I have a limit of 9 hunters, including me, on opening weekend and I stick to it. I let my friends know that I can only accomodate eight hunters for opening weekend and they seem to understand.
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not at all... My land owners get Jerky, birds if they want them etc.. I always offer to help out during the summer if they would like. I had a buddy who gave all of his landowners GPS's one year. Not being a jerk to say that they should help out at all, they would be paying a fraction of what they would if they had to pay for hunting access, and lodging.
 
Right..... Sometimes I'm not to sure they realize what they would have to pay to hunt somewhere else in SD or elsewhere.

Should I tell them this year they have to chip in and get something for my cousins. Should I be putting in money also? It's my family, 1st cousins. I bought them a frame 2 years ago and put a picture in it of our hunting group on their land. Short on money so that's all I did, but I never asked any of the others to help out, which I should have.







Spence said:
not at all... My land owners get Jerky, birds if they want them etc.. I always offer to help out during the summer if they would like. I had a buddy who gave all of his landowners GPS's one year. Not being a jerk to say that they should help out at all, they would be paying a fraction of what they would if they had to pay for hunting access, and lodging.
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Labman its like everything else in life its not the expense or the size its the thought and all you did was show your cousins that you appreciate their letting you have the operatunity to harvest birds on their land and your buddies should'nt have a problem showing their apreciation also if they do then something is wrong
 
My Opening Weekend

I head out on Thursday to help set up for the Pheasants Forever chapter banquet. Friday I drive all over two counties checking field status and posting where needed. Friday night is the PF banquet. Saturday, the opener, I'm in the field from sun up to sun down with old friends -- pure joy! Saturday night I treat the landowner and his family to steaks and drinks, part of saying thank you for the hunting rights which I acquired in part by being a volunteer wheat harvest hand for 12 summers. Hunt all day Sunday too, maybe more days if my old friend from Salt Lake can stay longer than the weekend.
 
I've left cases of beer for some of the farmers, a bottle of whiskey etc... they all seemed to appreciate it enough to let me hunt whenever I'd like!! it doesn't take much.
 
Grateful, Polite Hunter

Spence said:
I've left cases of beer for some of the farmers, a bottle of whiskey etc... they all seemed to appreciate it enough to let me hunt whenever I'd like!! it doesn't take much.
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Your gestures of appreciation help support the good reputation of hunters. Thank you for doing your part.
 
The hunting around here is the worst opening weekend. It only gets better after that. Too much crop still in. Sloughs not frozen yet. I will be harvesting opening weekend I am sure. Maybe get out for a few hours in the late afternoon and get some hunting in on Sun. Probably just me and one or two others. I don't like groups.
 
It depends.

Which state? Temperature for the dog? Progress of the corn harvest? South Dakota has 3 "openers" Youth, Resident Only, and General. In general I prefer to avoid the festivities, but sometimes if the conditions are right I will slip over the border into South Dakota and hunt the last hour, shooting hours probably close at about 6:45 PM on the opener. The Iowa shooting hours start at 8:00 AM so its usually cool and crisp which always get my juices flowing so its hard to resist temptation. I guess I am spoiled as I can integrate pheasant hunting into the routine of my work and family life and go when the conditions are just right.
 
I usally skip opening weekend since I hunt WIHA's only. When I did hunt openers, I get tired of being pushed out of fields by large groups that jump in the middle. Then it is alot of driving around looking for a field without hunters in it. Plus all the trash that gets left behind tends to piss me off. I prefer the week after all the city guys leave and only the die hards are out.
 
sloth5202 said:
Two years ago I made a major mistake and had some buddies over the night before for a few beers and before I knew it we were at the bar. We think we got drugged at the bar because none on us remember much of the night and I woke up the next morning with my apple muffins all over my bed and on my face....I was supposed to eat those for a snack the next day while hunting.... not good. I woke up at 8 realized what had happened and hustled out to try and find any open area I could. I bagged a couple of birds so that helped cure the old hangover.... interesting to say the least.
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I'm the same way sloth. Love to hunt alone with my dogs. I go through the drinking issues with my hunting buddies too. Love them like brothers but I swear they don't need sleep. Drinking all night and up at the crack of dawn is the name of the game for them. I can't roll like that. This year I'm heading out alone for a few days prior to the group hunt so I can enjoy a good nights sleep prior to the hunt:cheers:.
 
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I like to spend opening day with just me & the trusty four-legged companion ALL ALONE (sometimes waiting until mid-morning/mid-day to slip in & quietly clean house behind all the gung-ho crew contentedly sitting at the local diner for lunch)...Also like to spend at least one of the last days of the season in the very the same manner!!! :thumbsup:

In between the solitary bookends, hunting too much alone gets mighty boring in a hurry - I enjoy the fellowship/comraderie of hunting in carefully chosen small groups somewhere between 2-6 w/multiple dogs...The ONLY time I have any interest at all in hunting with a larger group is late in the season when you really need about 500-1000 guys building pyramids on each other's backs all around the entire perimeter of the field just to hold the bunched-up little devils from from boiling out somewhere when the first tattletale goes!!! :eek: :p

Have absolutely ZERO interest in large armys shoulder-to-shoulder running down corn rows to a gazillion blockers at the ends!!! To each his own & no slam whatsoever at the people who genuinely enjoy this type of hunt - just not my style! ;)
 
I also enjoy getting out with Just the dog.... those trips normally wait until Late December and Jan. for me.
 
Rusty Trigger said:
I usally skip opening weekend since I hunt WIHA's only. When I did hunt openers, I get tired of being pushed out of fields by large groups that jump in the middle. Then it is alot of driving around looking for a field without hunters in it. Plus all the trash that gets left behind tends to piss me off. I prefer the week after all the city guys leave and only the die hards are out.
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I'm the same way. Opening day I avoid, but a couple days after that I'll try to get a day off work to enjoy the start of the season. Later on as there are fewer birds and the ones that are left are smart, conditions are usually more harsh, and I find it easier to find places to hunt without company.

Some of the talk about huge groups - that's really hard to imagine. 90% of my hunting is by myself or with one other and during which we're only running my dog. The biggest group I've hunted with was 4 others and with 3 dogs. Sometimes the plan went well, but usually people just started going off in whatever directions they felt like and the whole plan of attack fell apart into chaos. Sometimes we still did alright and sometimes the birds would fly off without any shots fired.
 
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